Reliable VPN

[Woodland Hills]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good reliable VPN service? I want to be able to watch British TV on Prime and Netflix when in the Bahamas. The streaming services only have US rights to foreign content and block if you have a Bahamian ISP. I currently have PureVPN but it keeps cutting out after about 15min and is not working out.
I think I asked this question a while back, but a search for VPN says the keyword is too short. I tried to scroll through the forums to find a the old thread but had no success.

 

[STB]

Express VPN would be my first thought:
-- https://www.expressvpn.com/

I've used it while travelling internationally, though not for entertainment, and it always works for me.

 

[Leatherneck]

I've been using Norton Anti-Virus software and they have an option to include a VPN capability. I have been using it about a month and it seems to work well. You can set the country that you appear to be located in using their software. Haven't tried it when streaming. Might work for you if you also use their anti-virus protection.

 

[mvweebles]

I have used NordVPN on Mexico. Sometimes have to change servers. Doesn't work with everything. Can usually get Netflix and Amazon. Spectrum (home cable) is spotty. Philo is no problem.

Its a cat and mouse game. Netflix beats the VPN servers down. VPN figure out a workaround. Rinse/repeat.

 

[Zoar]

sorry.

 

[Woodland Hills]

I like to look at the waves and the line between the water and the sky. And breathe in the air.

That’s nice, not helpful at all, but nice. You sure put me in my place, I feel so inferior to you now....... Do you feel better now that you have signaled your virtue to us all?

What do you do when the sun goes down: stare into the abyss?

 

[Magneto]

I tried Pure and found problems with downloads. I use now Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN and found them to be cheap and works for me 100% on everything I access and download. I have no experience with it in the Bahamas.


https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/buy-vpn/

 

[Woodland Hills]

I switched to ExpressVPN and found that it works much better. I am still in the first week so if it goes bad I’ll report back.

 

[stevemitchell]

I've used ExpressVPN and TunnelBear. I would definitely read about what they do/do not hide privacy wise before choosing, and research the root company that owns them. There have been a few gotchas in the past where a VPN company has said they don't log anything, only to admit they log everything for diagnostic purposes. Why that matters is that if Netflix or someone else finds out, and asks for the logs, and somehow gets them, they can kill your account, etc.

I always look at the top 2-3 and choose one of those since they're less likely to do something stupid, or go out of business.

 

[Simi 60]

Into our 4th year with PIA
Works a treat

 

[Woodland Hills]

If Netflix kills my account well just open one using my wife’s email, however I find it unlikely in the extreme that they would bother.

Next move is to go to the BBC and ITV streaming sites, use a UK server and watch the very latest episodes of my favorite Brit mysteries.

 

[catalinajack]

I have Express VPN. It has worked flawleesly for the four months I have used it. Just one data point.

 

[tozz]

I have used NordVPN. Works pretty well. No complaints. General consensus in online reviews looks to be that expressVPN and NordVPN are pretty comparable.

-tozz

 

[koliver]

Express VPN would be my first thought:
-- https://www.expressvpn.com/

I've used it while travelling internationally, though not for entertainment, and it always works for me.

Just returned to SoCal after 39 days out on the Pacific Ocean.
My ExpressVPN was unable to conquer the Cruise ship WiFi, so I had to keep it turned off till we got back.
now it is back to normal, and I can easily connect to London (Docklands) from here.

 

[mvweebles]

I'm in Mexico and using NordVPN. Unable to stream most content from either Netflix or Amazon Prime. Dissatisfied with their customer support - knowledge base articles give instructions for menus that do not exist.

I cannot recommend NordVPN for geo-restricted websites. Might work fine for masking your identify, but if your goal is getting past geo restrictions, doesn't work for me.

 

[Woodland Hills]

I had an issue connecting with ExpressVPN and I went to their live chat and got it diagnosed and fixed in five minutes. The same with PureVPN until I gave up on them: easy to get support from a live agent via chat.

In my case we found out that I had used up all my data on BTC (oops!) and a top up had me running again in a couple of minutes.

If they can defeat the Great Firewall of China, they should be able to keep Netflix streaming in the Bahamas.

 

[thekiltedwonder]

Here is an excellent website with all kinds of info about VPNs. It's got a comprehensive chart to help you choose based on what you need, not just a generic definition of "best".

NordVPN, PIA VPN (Private Internet Access), and Express VPN are three that are widely considered to be among the best, but all three have different strengths.

 

[Boatcrazy]

Following.

 

[Traderjoe]

In US we call it WIFI but same thing I assume.

I tried everything finally I got a good one with HTC wireless with Sprint 65.00 a month with 100 GB.

Runs movies great no buffering issues and keeps speed up. Just have to watch if you have devices that only work on 2.4 ghz they won't work on a 5 ghz network. The HTC only puts out one signal at a time.


Aloha and Mahalo!
Joe

 

[Steve DAntonio]

Express VPN would be my first thought:
-- https://www.expressvpn.com/

I've used it while travelling internationally, though not for entertainment, and it always works for me.

I use this as well, it works very well and support is excellent. The only place it isn't working lately is the PRC, otherwise I can access Netflix, and Prime everywhere. You do need to use a particular server location, however, to do this, which you select, tech support can walk you through it.

You can use it on up to 5 devices, simultaneously. Annual fee is reasonable, and it's format is easy to use, easier than others I've had previously.

Overall, for any cruiser who uses public internet, you should use a VPN.

 

[Simi 60]

but if your goal is getting past geo restrictions, doesn't work for me.

Could that not be considered illegal?
You are doing a workaround to backdoor a system with restricted access.

 

[AnnapolisJoy]

Vpn

Surfshark

 

[Traderjoe]

Surfshark

Really 1.99 a month no other charges?

 

[Woodland Hills]

Could that not be considered illegal?
You are doing a workaround to backdoor a system with restricted access.

Perhaps, then again I am paying them my monthly fees. I suspect though, that it is more a violation of copyright in that Prime has the US rights to the content but not the worldwide rights. It’s not like stealing access to a sporting event since I am paid up on my subscriptions.

 

[AnnapolisJoy]

Really 1.99 a month no other charges?

Free=worthless

Like a free college education etc.

 

[BobMc]

NordVPN gets excellent review, and is relatively inexpensive. I've been using it for several years without a glitch on desktop, laptop, tablet and phone.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good reliable VPN service?

 

[Bob M]

Some TV streaming services (e.g. TV.YouTube.com) will block use via a known VPN service. An alternative is to install a VPN server at home and use this service for your VPN.


However, some TV streaming services use more than the IP to figure out your location. They'll look at the WiFi services detected by your computer and determine that even though your IP says you are home, your WiFi location says you are not and will deny access to their TV streaming service. You could turn off WiFi, but now you'll have to somehow connect to the Internet with a cable.


Streaming to a boat can be further complicated by slow often overloaded local WiFi service.


TV streaming via VPN can be tricky and it's getting trickier, particularly if you want to view local home channels.

 

[Woodland Hills]

ExpressVPN is plug and play so far. Run the app, connect and open the video site and it plays. And keeps on playing for hours. I’m sold! It works for Prime, Netflix, Britbox, HBO, PBS, Acorn. It also works for the ITVplayer and the BBC player with a U.K. server.

 

[Boatcrazy]

Woodland Hills....just curious...what do you use for a WiFi source when you are out sailing/cruising? Does the Express VPN work with all WiFi sources?

 

[Woodland Hills]

We are in the Bahamas now and use the myisland WiFi modem. It is $75 a month and is truly unlimited: we have used over 500gb in2 months. On the mainland we use their USA modem same deal, only $100/$110 a month. It’s not always the fastest option, it is an ATT unit using BTC towers and sometimes it’s faster going direct through BTC, but it always works. If it’s slow on a given day due to all the other users, we just download instead of stream.

We tried the various Verizon unlimited plans, but kept getting throttled, so we gave up on them. As you can see we use a lot of data: we love British Mysteries and crime shows as well as their documentaries. Living aboard when the sun goes down the TV goes on. We were able to get Dish network until we got south of Highborne Cay but until we buy a larger satellite dish it’s been all streaming and OTA. Here in George Town we can get the three networks plus Fox Entertainment as well as the two Bahamian stations OTA.

ExpressVPN works with WiFi and LTE equally well. I figure we will still use it on the mainland to watch BBC & ITV directly from the U.K.